One-X
by Wonders-One-Shots
Summary: Depression eats at Kagome's mind one night when she begins to wonder how her childhood dreams of growing up were so wrong. InuYasha follows her on a walk to provide the comfort no one ever stopped to think that she might need. Not necessarily kind content. Some mild violence and unpleasant imagery. Three Days Grace - One-X Song Fic


**A/N: Hey hey! ^^ I'm Wonder and this is the start of my One-Shot Wonder Game!**

**It's time for me to "Shuffle it Up!" That means I'm gonna ask the first person who comments on the story with its secret word/phrase/quote (Which will be posted in the A/N at the beginning or end of a story and will be italicized but never strictly stated) to take their favorite playlist on their ipod or youtube or wherever it might be and PM me with the first three songs that come up (alternatively they may send me three one-shot ideas if they so choose). I will then write a short story for each one and post my favorite one of the three! The others (Muahahaha back up plans!) will be saved in my emergency story folder for if I draw a blank on a story and have yet to post. Don't worry credit for the idea or the song will be given to the person I got it from. ;) I will try my best to post frequently (every 2-3 days) but sometimes life does get in the way and yada yada.**

**I'm gonna start you off with a song that I got by shuffling _my playlist_ :D**

**I love you all already!**

**Time to Shuffle Off!**

**~Wonder**

**Inspired by the Song One-X by Three Days Grace**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story.**

The heat of the glaring summer sun bore down heavily on Kagome's face making her cheeks flush with color and sweat dampen her shirt. Visions of the latest battles flickered through her mind. She pictured Naraku's blood red eyes and cynical smirk as the blood dripped down one of his many tentacles InuYasha speared on it's end. Echo's of Kirara's roar and the sight of her flaming paws alighting on the limb so she might tear it off and free her companion. Thousands of grievous injuries: broken bones, gaping cuts, punctured abdomens, head trauma. Nothing like the cuts, bumps, and bruises of her childhood. She felt the heaviness of depression settling over her once more like a thick suffocating blanket.

Every day for them was another fight, another injury, another trial of their very souls to chase down a man who corrupted everything they thought to be right. Night came, though not quickly enough, and the gang began the typical camp set up; but though the motions remained the same the atmosphere was different. Uncomfortable silence drifted through the air. On an average night Kagome would brighten the mood with strange talk of things from her era or encouraging words on the processes of their healing and assurances of victory when such a thing came up. No one ever thought that it was something she might need as well, only that it was something she brought forth because she believed it with every inch of her pure heart. Something that she did to comfort them in their plight. So much so that they forgot that the plight was her's as well. Tonight she wandered as if the fight was already lost. As she prepared dinner Sango and Miroku sat beneath InuYasha's tree discussing the subject, knowing full well that while he would pretend to be sleeping he was intent on the conversation.

Dinner was hushed but unhurried. Kagome sat with her back against InuYasha's tree deriving what slight amount of comfort from it that she could. The meal was fine tasting as Kagome had learned the local spices and what tasted best in what combinations on the fish that they would catch, just another thing that she did to bring them all a sense of comfort. Even InuYasha, who often complained very loudly of how strange the flavors were while he devoured his meal, was quietly enjoying his food casting worried glances at the miko when he was sure that no one was looking. When she was finished she stood and left with a soft murmur that only InuYasha could hear clearly.

"I'm going for a walk…" Her soft trembling voice caused worry among her friends. InuYasha stood with a casual stretch and lept from the tree landing silently at it's base as she entered the fringes of the forest.

"I'll get her." He grunted his nose already catching the faint salty scent of her tears. The nods of Sango and Miroku were left unnoted as the hanyo disappeared in her wake.

Her eyes watered as she followed a lightly worn deer trail to the edge of a hill with a slope so steep even the trees dispersed as if they had fallen away along its side and collected again at the base. _Who have I become..?_ She wondered silently. Even the thought of another day walking the thin line of life and death situations made her gut twist in painful knots and her heart clench tightly in the confines of her chest. Images of her friends laying almost lifeless before her eyes but somehow rising again to fight another day. A thing that had happened many times, she herself had even done it though she would never see it as such. They all fought for the lives of the many, it was no longer about simply getting back the jewel and defeating Naraku. It was about defending the lives that were being threatened and avenging the ones that had been taken.

A longing smile curled at the corners of her soft lips. "When I was a little girl I would dream about falling in love in highschool and getting married when at a young age. I dreamt my husband would be supportive and kind to me when I chose my career and he would help me raise our three children who would all be kind and happy as they grew up. I dreamed a lot of things InuYasha. But I never dreamed of this… This chaos. Chasing Naraku day in and day out, traveling through time, wondering constantly who's on my side and who's on his." She spoke the final word bitterly as if it was a curse for just representing Naraku in a single sentence. "Thinking of what I might leave undone." Her voice returned to the broken tone it had held before. She hadn't needed to hear him approach or see him gazing at the horizon the same way she was. "You know I try my hardest to never leave bad words spoken between me and anyone I care about now? Just because I know that they could be the last words I speak to them and that I would hate myself if they were." He blinked slightly surprised and turned his gaze on her but she kept looking out as if she could count the moments she would have left by the number of stars that twinkled in the sky.

"What did you dream about when you were young InuYasha?" She asked him softly.

_If it had been anyone else…_ The thought rang in his mind but he locked his gaze on her watching as she tilted her face to gaze at the moon and memorizing the way the light illuminated her pale skin dancing with her curves and casting long soft shadows that highlighted her gentle features. "I dreamed of growing up and being stronger than my father but as kind as my mother. I would have a home and a wife who loved me. We would have children together. I dreamed of living happily." He finally told her, there had been no hesitation only the space for a few moments of thought. "I never dreamed of this chaos either but…" His voice trailed off almost uncertainly.

"But..?" She questioned turning her sad chocolatey gaze to meet his.

_I'm glad I met all of you instead…_ He wanted to say but instead he murmured, "We are the only one's who can do this. No matter how many times we fall and get hurt in the process we are the only ones who can defeat him. And we will defeat him" There was a reassuring finality in his voice that made her smile softly but she said nothing more.

"You know we couldn't do this without you right?" His tone was comforting but her bitter smile returned making him fear he had said something wrong.

"I know that you all like to say that but what do I really do that you all couldn't?"

"You keep us all together and you keep us from driving one another crazy. You heal us, you reassure us, you give us hope Kagome." He paused to take a slow breath. "You give us all hope and that is more important than anything else cause if we had no hope then we would never be able to do any of this. We're all important. Especially you." He looked completely serious as he spoke.

The blanket of depression lifted from her shoulders taking with it the weight that had constricted her heart. She smiled softly at him a warmth lighting in her chest. They stood silently gazing into each others eyes until an owl flew loftily overhead calling into the night with a low_ 'Hoo Hoo'_ and managing to startle the pair.

Kagome was the one to break the slightly awkward silence. "I bet you never dreamed of being stuck with a misfit like me." She said with lingering laughter bringing a soft light back to her eyes. He raised a brow in a mock show of thinking over the question.

"No, I never dreamed of that. But I bet you never dreamed of being protected by a half-demon like me either." He said flashing her an oh-so-rare fanged smirk.

Her heart skipped a beat at the promise in his words. _… Of being protected by a half-demon like me…_ She smiled slightly wider so it finally reached her eyes. "I can't say I haven't actually." Color dusted her cheeks barely visible in the darkness.

He looked shocked for a moment but smiled mostly to himself. He offered her his hand in another rare display of kindness. "Keh… We should get back to camp before Miroku starts thinking." He told her. She nodded with a little laugh as she took his hand lightly. He turned back towards the camp and followed the trail at a leisurely pace giving her hand a gentle but comforting squeeze. She felt his rough calloused palm against her own and sighed contentedly squeezing his hand back and moving to keep pace with him leaving the last scraps of worry and depression behind her.

A single thought played in her mind when they set foot back in the camp. _We are all part of one big whole. Only together can we defeat Naraku and be happy._ Her eyes danced to the Hanyo beside her and she smiled.

_Truly Happy._

**A/N: Thank you for reading! ^^ I actually had a great time with this one, though I'm usually more of a romance chick. I hope you enjoyed it too! Feel free to Read and Review even suggest some ideas for me to conquer! I look forward to it all!**

**~Wonder**


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